


Don't Bring Me Down

by Junene



Category: iKON (Kpop)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, friendship fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 07:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6043225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junene/pseuds/Junene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s the baby of the band. They love him and welcome him as a part of the group.  He knows that…but some days he feels like he just doesn’t belong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Bring Me Down

The fan meeting goes well. They shake hands, sign merchandise, accept fan gifts, smile, wave, take pictures; nothing is out of place and everything goes smoothly. Yet here he is, again, alone in the restroom critiquing himself.

 

Chanwoo runs a hand down the side of his face, along his jaw, back up and over his nose. His reflection stares back at him, features to plain and uninteresting. Chanwoo thinks he's too dull and the longer he stares at his reflection the more he wonders why he even made it into iKON's final lineup. It doesn't help that he's been privately browsing the Internet, looking for fan comments on articles about the finalized members.

 

Initially, Chanwoo had been looking just to see what fans had to say about the band as a whole. He supposed he should have known there would be fans that were unhappy about the final results. For the most part the fans just seemed to be disappointed that their favorite competition didn't make the cut but were still happy overall with the final results. But the more Chanwoo read, the more negative comments began to stand out to him.

 

It started with a comment of 'Eh, Hongseok was better.' Chanwoo could deal with that; Hongseok had probably been some peoples' favorite. But then they got worse. One comment turned into three and three to ten until Chanwoo was absorbing the hateful words like a sponge. The comments eventually became a steady mantra of, 'you don't belong, they don't need you, you aren't good enough,' that would play itself over in Chanwoo's head every second of the day.

 

The bathroom door swings open with a bang and Donghyuk comes running in. He turns sharply and locks himself in a stall, shouting a quick, “Hi Chanwoo!” over his shoulder. The younger figures he better take his leave before Donghyuk notices something’s wrong and makes his way out of the restroom before Donghyuk can say anything else.

 

Donghyuk, while kind and (sometimes overly) friendly, is one of the people Chanwoo tends to compare himself to most. Chanwoo has a bad habit of listing all the ways Donghyuk is better suited to iKON than him – Donghyuk being the former maknae, Chanwoo supposes it makes sense that he’s the member he stacks himself against most often. To Chanwoo, it’s all to obvious that he falls short in many things, especially when compared to Donghyuk.

 

Donghyuk is charming towards fans and a source of energy and support for iKON. He is so obviously loved by their band mates and adored by their fans that Chanwoo finds it endlessly difficult not to be jealous of him. Yet it is for those very reasons Chanwoo just can’t bring himself to dislike Donghyuk. Oftentimes Chanwoo finds himself biting his tongue around his hyung, wanting to vent to him about everything he’s feeling yet not wanting to reveal his vulnerability.

 

Chanwoo takes a deep breath and fixes a smile back on his face. If his band mates notice something is off when he returns to their dressing room, no one says anything.

 

_______________________________________

 

It takes less than a week for their leader to notice something is very wrong with iKON’s youngest member.

 

Chanwoo is busy washing his makeup off when Hanbin grabs his wrist and drags him out into the living room. Chanwoo’s face is red and glossy from the makeup remover and his band mates are looking at him expectantly from the half circle they’ve formed on the floor. Hanbin lets go of his wrist in favor of patting his shoulders to get him to sit down. Chanwoo sits at the edge of the semi circle next to Yunhyeong and surveys his group.

 

Hanbin clears his throat. “Chanwoo, this is an intervention.”

 

Chanwoo is genuinely confused. Intervention? He can’t even come up with on viable reason for an intervention. He hasn’t done anything except maybe drink one too many energy drinks in a day.

 

“Not like a serious intervention or anything.” Bobby adds. He’s half draped across Donghyuk, a leech when it comes to physical affection for his members. “We don’t think you’re doing hard drugs or anything like that, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

 

The rest of the members not and Yunhyeong reaches an arms over and across Chanwoo’s shoulders. The youngest is pulled into a half hug, squished against Yunhyeong’s side and under his arm.

 

“It’s an intervention of friendship.” Yunhyeong grins down at Chanwoo and squeezes him closer.

 

Donghyuk, who is practically being smothered by Bobby reclining against him, flails at Chanwoo and beams. “We – I – noticed you seemed a little…down.” He shoves Bobby to the side, off of him and over to Junhoe who grunts and pushes the rapper off. Jinhwan switches places with Junhoe and lets Bobby lay against his shoulder. Free of Bobby’s dead weight, Donghyuk slides across the floor on his butt until he’s right in front of Chanwoo.

 

“What’s been eating you, huh?”

 

Chanwoo is left speechless. He thought he’d been hiding his insecurities well. But Donghyuk, ever perceptive and unable to let anything go, saw past his happy façade. Donghyuk, the person he’d felt most inferior to, had cared enough about him to plan this. His hyung scoots closer and pats Chanwoo’s head as if he were a child.

 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell us. We just want you to know we’re here for you.” Donghyuk’s voice is laced with concern and dripping with sincerity and worry. “You’re part of the family now and we’re going to harass you until you learn to trust us.”

 

The rest of the band nods in agreement. Bobby gives him a thumbs up and Hanbin gives him the same look he gives his sister when she needs coddling. Jinhwan asserts that Chanwoo should never feel like he has to hide anything from them – “Really Chanwoo, nothing you say or do can be worse than Junhoe’s sass” – and nudges Junhoe reassure him as well. Yunhyeong releases him from his half hug and pats his shoulder.

 

“You can talk to us kid. We wouldn’t be iKON without you.” Yunhyeong smiles and ruffles Chanwoo’s hair. “Besides, who else would be my twin but you?”

 

Donghyuk, pleased with the bands response, looks expectantly at Chanwoo. The youngest, for the fist time, feels like he belongs. iKON is where he belongs. These idiots – his band mates and hyungs – really are his family now.

 

Six sets of eyes watch him expectantly. Six people he’s looked up to and aspired to be like since their days as Team B all watch him with genuine concern and love. Chanwoo blinks once, twice to clear his watering eyes and opens his mouth, ready to open up to his new family.


End file.
